The Life and Times of Desmond Chang
by Venator77
Summary: No one really knows all about Desmond Chang's past...until now. AU
1. Chapter 1

_**The Life and Times of Desmond Chang**_

**Chapter 1**

_Jedi Temple, Coruscant, 53 BBY_

Seven year old Desmond Chang wandered the Temple, with the morning transitioning to afternoon. He had no classes today; it was the weekend. Desmond was glad about that; he needed a break from his classes. Right now, he was looking for his friends Marco and Rhys, who were his fellow clanmates. After a while, he finds them in the cafeteria, eating lunch.

"Hey guys." Desmond said as he sat down with the boys.

"Hey, what's up?" Rhys said. He was a Mandalorian human with a taste for armour. He was always telling Marco and Desmond that once he becomes a Padawan, he will construct armour for himself.

"I'm bored. Do you guys want to do something?" Desmond asked. He sat on the seat next to his friends and sighed. His friends looked at each other and smirked.

"How about we pull off another prank? It always cheers you up." Rhys suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. But who should we prank?" Desmond said.

"Master Yoda?" Marco suggested. Desmond shook his head.

"I don't want to face his gimer stick." He replied. He heard stories of younglings and Padawans being punished by Yoda for disobedience and such in class. Desmond has no intention of finding out if they were true.

"What about Sifo-Dyas?" Marco asked.

"I don't know. He seems pretty nice." Desmond said slowly. Rhys slapped his friend on the back.

"C'mon, it'll be fun! Besides, I never thought you would back down from pranking." He said with a joking tone. Desmond agreed and started devising a plot to get at the Master.

"So here's what we're going to do…" Desmond started to explain…

-o0o-

It was the dead of night in the Jedi Temple. Very few were about, paying no mind to the three younglings sneaking to Master Sifo-Dyas's quarters. Once they reached it, Desmond pulled out a small grenade.

"I nicked this flash bang from an unsuspecting police officer. We run once I throw it in, okay?" Desmond said. Marco and Rhys nodded. Desmond opened the door and activated the flash bang, throwing it inside. Then, after closing the door, the younglings leaped up into the vents and crawled away slowly. The flash bang exploded, causing Master Sifo-Dyas to wake up and began a tirade that is too colourful for script. The three younglings laughed to themselves and crawled away, faster this time. After a while, they jumped down from the vents and made their way to their separate quarters, still silently laughing.

-o0o-

It was the beginning of the work week once again, to Desmond's annoyance. His day started poorly, his alarm clock malfunctioned, causing him to sleep in. When he did wake up, there was only ten minutes before the first class of the day started.

"I'm late!" Desmond cursed as he quickly brushed his teeth and grabbed his rucksack and datapad. Then he sprinted out of his quarters to his class, which was unfortunately on the other side of the Temple. He took a right, then a left, then straight down the hall until….

_WHAM!_

Desmond was so focused on to getting to class on time that he ran into a girl who was carrying a small stack of textbooks and papers. Excruciating pain shot from Desmond's left ankle as both he and the girl fall on the floor. The girl drops her stuff and papers were everywhere.

"Oh no! My homework!" The girl cried out. Desmond shouts loudly and tries to stand up, but fell down.

"Forget your stupid homework! I think I broke my ankle!" Desmond yelled. The girl started to pick up her things.

"Why were you even running?" She asked, "You know that's dangerous."

"I was trying to get to class on time. Now get my instructor, who is down the hall." Desmond said with clenched teeth. He lay there on the floor, not wanting to aggravate his injury. The girl nods and makes her way down the hall and into Desmond's classroom. A few minutes later, the instructor and the girl rushed out and went to Desmond. The other initiates peeked from the classroom to see the fuss.

"Desmond, what did you do?" The instructor said sternly. Desmond looked at her with a strange combination of sheepishness, pain, and nervousness.

"I did not want to be late again…" He said. The instructor sighed and lifted Desmond up with the Force. After a moment, they made it to the healers' wing and the healer placed Desmond on a bed.

"Alright, Desmond. Please tell me everything," The healer said. Desmond obliged and the healer nodded.

"Okay, I'll have to pull off your boot," She said. She started tugging on the left boot, causing Desmond to shout. The healer let go.

"Hmm… I think you did break that ankle. I'll have to put you to sleep, okay?" The healer said. The young initiate nodded and the healer administered the special drug. Desmond was out cold in ten seconds flat.

-o0o-

Light shine brightly into Desmond's eyes as he woke up. The healer, along with Desmond's instructor and the girl he crashed into were at his bed side.

"Glad you're awake, Initiate Chang. You did indeed break your ankle. You will have to use crutches for the next three months," She said. She leaned in and continued, "That means no more pranks."

"Figures," Desmond said. Maybe karma was getting at him for that flash bang incident the day before yesterday. The instructor turned and left the room. Desmond caught a glimpse of her silently celebrating before the healer turned his attention back to her.

"I need to get your crutches from the supply room. I will be back." She said before leaving. The only other person left is the girl.

"I'm sorry I crashed into you," Desmond said, "I shouldn't have been running."

"It's okay. I can understand why you had to run. What is your name?" The girl said.

"I'm Desmond. Do you happen to be from Corellia?" Desmond asked.

"Yes. Why?" The girl said.

"I had lived in the East Angleham neighbourhood of Yousard. Your accent is exactly like mine." Desmond said. The girl raised an eyebrow.

"I'm also from that neighbourhood!" She exclaimed. "My name is Sera, by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Desmond said. They continued chatting about random stuff until the healer came back.

"Here you go." She said, giving the initiate the crutches. "You can go now."

Desmond nodded and got himself out of the room, with Sera following him out. They continued chatting as they walked down the hall…

TBC…


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Desmond and Sera became fast friends. They talked about all kinds of things; their neighbourhood, their classes, who they hope their Master will be, etc. Marco and Rhys were a little cautious about accepting a girl into their group of pranksters and troublemakers.

"I don't know if it is a good idea to let Sera in our group. Girls aren't the ones to pull pranks on other people," Rhys said, eyeing her with suspicion.

"She might seem nice and all, but would she really be interested in what we talk about?" Marco asked.

"She might. Just give her a chance, will you?" Desmond said, "She doesn't have much friend and two more wouldn't hurt." Desmond's friends thought about it for a while, then Rhys gets an idea.

"We'll let her in, but in one condition." Rhys said.

"Alright, name it." Desmond replied.

"She must prank Master Windu." Rhys said. "Or else she remains alone."

"Deal." Desmond said as he shook hands with his friend.

-o0o-

After class, Desmond was crutching himself to his quarters, with Sera using a push cart to transport his and her stuff. Sera looked nervous, wondering what Desmond would tell her. They reached his quarters and Desmond opened the door. Then he shut the door behind Sera and locked it.

"Sera, Rhys and Marco say that in order to join us, you must prank Master Windu." Desmond said. Sera raised both eyebrows with surprise.

"How?" She asked, "I have messed around with fellow younglings, but not Masters!"

"However you prank him is up to you. But you will need to do it and prove the video for it." Desmond said. "I'm sorry."

Sera, however, smirked.

"I already have a plan." She said. "I will need a large, trashcan sized bin and two, four pound bags of ice." Desmond raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going to do?" He asked. Sera's smirk grew even wider.

"I'm going to spill icy water on Master Windu." She said, giving an evil laugh. Desmond smirked evilly too. This was going to be epic.

-o0o-

Three days later, Sera had filled the bin with water, which was sitting on a ledge above the botanical gardens. The ice was already inside and Desmond agreed to play "the helpless cripple." Sera had the crutches with her on the ledge. Sera pulled the ice bucket from the ledge to hide from view as both the bait and Sera waited. After half an hour, Master Windu came into the gardens. Desmond smirked inwardly.

"Master Windu, I need help." Desmond said. Master Windu turned and saw him on the ground, crutches supposedly missing.

"Where are your crutches?" The Jedi Master asked. Desmond shrugged. Then suddenly, a large wave of ice water came splashing down on Master Windu, soaking him to the bone.

"Desmond!" He shouted. Desmond put his hands up in surrender.

"Wasn't me! I swear!" Desmond said. Sera leaped down from the ledge and started running. Windu turned and went after her.

"Oh no, you don't!" He yelled as he chased the girl away from the gardens. Desmond called his crutches from the ledge and got up. Then, he crutched himself away, laughing heartily.

-o0o-

"Did she really?" Marco said after Desmond finished his story. "I'm impressed."

"Well, she certainly passed our test with flying colours." Rhys said. Sera had sat with the boys, grinning widely with pride.

"Welcome aboard!" Desmond said, "What I still don't get is why you agreed to do it in the first place. All the girls I know probably wouldn't have dared."

"I'm not like other girls," Sera replied simply, "I'm not interested in things normal girls are. It's uninteresting." Desmond and the other boys looked at each other in awe. Did they just find one of the 'rare' types of girls that are interested in stuff that boys are interested? The boys went to a group huddle and chattered amongst themselves. Then, they go back and confronted Sera.

"Would you like to go over to Desmond's place and play some Super Smash Bros. Brawl?" Marco asked. Sera beamed in delight.

"I love Super Smash Bros. Brawl!" She exclaimed, "I'll be there." She stood up and threw her trash away before leaving the three behind, dumbfounded.

TBC…


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_A/N: To all of my loyal readers, I have indeed broken my writers block. Now you can look forward to new chapters of many of my stories, if I can get to them. But, I need you all to review, because it makes me feel happy and updates will be expected. To those of you who read "Never Leave Your Side," there is a chapter on the way. Hang on and happy reading! Venator77_

"Yes! I win again!" Sera exclaimed as the four younglings finished a seventh brawl. The boys were all sweating, shock and embarrassment evident on their faces.

"She's better than us!? How!?" Marco said. Before Sera, he was the group's best brawler.

"I knew I shouldn't have used Link." Rhys sulked. Desmond shrugged.

"I play this game at my quarters." Sera said smugly.

"With whom?" Desmond asked.

"No one. I play by myself against the AI on the hardest difficulty." Sera answered with pride. Rhys sulked even more.

"That's explains a lot." He said. Desmond then just remembered the earlier prank.

"Say…Did Master Windu caught you?" Desmond asked. Sera smiled.

"Nope. I managed to evade him." Sera replied. "Although I think I shouldn't let him see me for some time."

"Agreed."

-o0o-

_48 BBY, Jedi Temple_

Twelve year old Desmond Chang was bouncing up and down. In three days were the Padawan try-outs, where younglings will be tested to get their first Master. Marco, Rhys, and Sera were sharing the euphoria as well.

"This is it. It is one of the moments we've been waiting for." Desmond said.

"I wonder who my Master will be." Marco said thoughtfully. "Definitely not Master Windu."

"Does he even take Padawans?" Rhys asked.

"I hope not." Sera said, "Desmond, why don't we do some practising for the try-outs?"

"Sure."

Desmond took out two training lightsabers and activated them. He read about dual lightsaber combat and was fascinated by it. Plus, a Jedi Councilman named Micah Giiet, who was an expert with two lightsabers, exhibited his skill to his class several years back and Desmond never quite got over the beauty of it. Out of respect, he fought with two lightsabers. Sera activated her lightsaber and the two friends began to duel. They flowed like the gentlest of breezes and the current of a creek.. Marco and Rhys watched in awe. Despite watching both of their friends spar each other before, this one seemed special. At last, Desmod and Sera ended their match as a draw.

"That was beautiful." Marco said.

"No doubt you will find a Master to train you, Desmond and Sera." Rhys added.

"Maybe we should pull another prank just to keep up with our art in that." Sera suggested.

"No," Desmond replied sternly, "We must be on our best behaviour. This is an important milestone for us and we don't need to screw it up because the Masters don't appreciate our comedy. We shouldn't end up in the Service Corps because of that. We're too good for the Service Corps."

"Alright." Sera said. "I guess no more pranks until we are Padawans."

"Agreed."

-o0o-

The day of the try-outs has arrived and the top class of younglings were buzzing. They were ushered into a special training room designed for such occasions. Desmond felt excited and worried at the same time. Who will be his Master? Will he even have a Master? He was paired with a random youngling as well as his friends. Then, it was signalled for the exhibition duels to begin and at the same time, a hundred lightsabers ignited simultaneously. Desmond activated his two lightsabers and his duel began. He started slow, going easy on his opponent. Then, as the Masters trickled in one by one, Desmond picked up the pace. There were a few faces familiar, such as Giiet and Dooku. Some Masters passed by him with a glance, but did not seem to watch. Desmond went harder and harder on the youngling, who was starting to crack under pressure. At last, the youngling dropped his lightsaber and Desmond held one of his to the youngling's throat.

"Well, that is some display." A middle aged man said. Desmond turned around and stood facing him was Master Sifo-Dyas.

"Thank you, Master." Desmond said in respect. He bowed.

"With a bit more training, I think you will become a great swordsman. How would you like to be my Padawan?" Sifo-Dyas asked. Desmond smiled. Even though he pranked the Master five years back, he couldn't turn down an apprenticeship to an accomplished Master.

"I would be honoured." Desmond said.

"Good." Sifo-Dyas said. "I hope to see you sometime soon."

Desmond grinned widely as the Master left. He glanced at one of the instructors, wanting to leave. He nodded and Desmond fast walked out to his quarters to prepare for his departure.

TBC…


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

A week had passed since the try-outs. Desmond was happy to hear that all of his friends have Masters too. He now lived in his new Master's quarters, Master Sifo-Dyas's. Now Desmond was at the library, making sketches of his lightsabers on his datapad. He would regularly show his designs to Jocasta Nu, a middle-aged librarian who formerly sat on the Council. She would give him suggestions on improving his designs before Desmond goes away and adds improvements. When the librarian could no longer give anything for Desmond to improve on, the young Padawan, satisfied with his work, went to a special lightsaber construction chamber, where Cin Drallig was helping another Padawan with his lightsaber.

"Hello Master Drallig." Desmond said.

"Hello Padawan. What do you need?" The blademaster asked.

"I made a sketch of my lightsabers on my datapad. I need the parts for them."

"Making two lightsabers, are you? Well, let's see them."

Desmond took out his datapad and showed Master Drallig the blueprints.

"Very interesting. I will be right back." Master Drallig commented before he went to a side room to get Desmond's parts. Then, Sera entered the chamber, inspecting her design on her datapad.

"Hey Sera." Desmond said.

"Hey Des. Building your lightsaber?"

"Yeah. What are you building?"

"You'll see."

Master Drallig came out of the side room with Desmond's parts.

"Here you go. Good luck."

Desmond smiled and walked back to his and Sifo-Dyas's quarters. Using the Force to levitate his parts, Desmond assembled his lightsabers. After he finished, Desmond smiled wider. His lightsabers look great! Now all that he needs to do is to get his lightsaber crystals…

-o0o-

Sifo-Dyas returned to the quarters feeling fresh. He just took a swim in the gardens, so he was still dripping wet. He notices Desmond is packed up, ready to go.

"Hold on there. Where do you think you're going?" The Master asked.

"I'm all ready to go to Ilum." Desmond said.

"Not so fast. We'll get there soon enough. I'll book a flight for us later. Just wait. There are many, many other Padawans that need to go too." Sifo-Dyas said.

"Yes Master." Desmond said. He calmed down, and then when his Master left the quarters, Desmond took out his datapad and started watching a cartoon from Earth. A few months back, Desmond found a signal coming from a distant planet, far into the Unknown Regions. The video quality was poor, it was nothing like here. Desmond's favourite cartoons were "Tom and Jerry" and "Pop-eye," and he also watched a sport the planet calls "football." This sport interested him, with the excitement of the goal scored and the beautiful flow of teamwork at its best. In this region called "England," there was a league called the "Football League." It always glued Desmond's eyes to the screen. After a while, he shut off his datapad just as Master Sifo-Dyas entered.

"Alright, Desmond. We are going." He said. Desmond smiled and cheered. He packed his essentials and his lightsaber hilts and the Master-Padawan pair walked to the Temple Hangar and entered a shuttle. Desmond and Sifo-Dyas went to the cockpit and the crew took off from the hangar and blasted off into space.

-o0o-

_"The Blade is the Heart of the Jedi"_

Desmond was sitting crisscrossed on the floor of the chamber. He found his two lightsaber crystals and is now meditating, constructing his lightsaber as well.

_"The crystal is the heart of the blade."_

Desmond connected two parts of a sphere to surround one crystal.

_"The heart is the crystal of the Jedi."_

The same thing was done on the other lightsaber.

_"The Jedi is the crystal of the Force."_

The parts assembled together on one lightsaber and the pieces of the hilt clicked together to finish the first lightsaber.

_"The Force is the blade of the heart."_

The same thing happened for the other lightsaber.

_"All are intertwined: The crystal, the blade, the Jedi."_

Desmond took his completed lightsabers and activated them, revealing a blue blade for the first and a green blade for the other.

_"You are one."_

-o0o-

After returning from Ilum, Desmond went to the training room, where he found Sera examining her new lightsaber.

"Hey Sera. I built my new lightsabers." Desmond said.

"Cool. Can I see them?" She asked. Desmond nodded and levitated his weapons from his belt. He rotated them slowly then he grabbed them.

"That's a good hilt design." Sera said. "How about we spar?"

"Why not?" Desmond said. He ignited his blades. Sera looked at the blades.

"Nice blades." She commented before igniting her own blue lightsaber. The two Padawans started fighting, clashes of their lightsabers heard within the room. After a while, Desmond blocked Sera's blade with one lightsaber and struck her on the side with the other. She yelped as the blade stings her on impact.

"No fair! You got an extra lightsaber!" She protested.

"You should have built another one." Desmond stated. Marco and Rhys entered the room, seeing that both of them started bickering.

"Hey guys, why are you arguing?" Marco asked.

"Well, Sera isn't happy that I beat her using both of my lightsabers." Desmond said.

"Maybe you should fight us at the same time." Marco suggested. He activated his green lightsaber and Sera activated her blue. Then, the three friends started duelling. After a while, the duel ended and they sat down to rest.

"Hey, do you want to go and prank someone?" Desmond asked, "We are all Padawans after all."

"Why not?" Marco replied.

"What are we going to do this time?" Rhys asked. Desmond started to think. Then, an idea popped into mind.

"Why don't we fill up someone's quarters with newspaper? There are plenty of those around." Desmond said. "But first, we have to eavesdrop on a Council meeting so that we can determine who will be going and for how long." Everyone agreed with the plan. Desmond took out a camera and gave it to Rhys.

"Rhys, you haven't been caught pranking anyone. Go into the vents and record the next Council meeting." Desmond said. Rhys nodded and went off.

"Marco, Sera, find as many newspapers as ou can find and bring thm here. I'll cover for you." Desmond continued.

"Right away." Marco said before he and Sera left. Desmond walked to the Room of a Thousand Fountains and sat down to meditate.

-o0o-

Sera and Marco strolled down the street outside of the Temple. They headed to a publishing office in the west, but when they got there, something was wrong. A couple of security guards were sprawled on the ground, dead. Inside, a gang of Weequay and Trandoshians were pointing blasters at a man at the desk, who was looking very meek.

"Where's our payment? You said you had the money!" A Weequay thug said.

"I-I-I don't h-have it! Another gang robbed us a week ago!" The clerk stuttered.

"I don't care! The money or your life!" The thug said.

"Stop right there!" Sera shouted. She and Marco activated their lightsabers.

"Jedi!" The thug, who now seems to be the leader of the group, shouted. "Blast them!"

The gang opened fire on the Jedi Padawans, but they deflected the blaster bolts away and rushed at the gang, slashing through all of them. After all the members of the gang were defeated, the clerk, who was hiding under his desk, peeked out.

"Thanks for saving me." The clerk said.

"You're welcome. But first, I need enough newspaper to fill up a medium sized room."

"That can be arranged."

After several minutes, Sera and Marco were pushing a cart with a bunch of newspapers up a ramp to the Temple. Their job was done.

TBC…


End file.
